Source: PURDUE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
PURDUE UNIVERSITY'S PROPOSAL TO HOST NCRCRD
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
OTHER GRANTS
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1024203
Grant No.
2020-51150-32894
Cumulative Award Amt.
$474,880.00
Proposal No.
2020-09412
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Sep 15, 2020
Project End Date
Sep 14, 2022
Grant Year
2020
Program Code
[UU.R]- Rural Development Centers
Recipient Organization
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
WEST LAFAYETTE,IN 47907
Performing Department
Ag Econ
Non Technical Summary
The Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC) have woven the three land-grant missions into a strong fabric of national support for rural development through collaborative efforts of the RRDC's, USDA and land-grant institutions. The success of the RRDCs is driven by innovative integrated research and Extension efforts, born of regional and national cooperation that fosters knowledge creation and national impact. The emphasis on research-driven Extension programs is a critical means through which the RRDCs generate impact and infuse a multiplier effect that allows Extension programming to permeate throughout the country. Purdue University proposes a systems approach to community development and regional collaboration that relies on the integration of research and Extension.A resilient region has, at its foundation, thriving communities. Purdue University proposes a systems approach to build thriving rural communities through cutting-edge research and Extension programs and innovative partnerships. The North Central Region (NCR) depends on three interconnected systems: communities, businesses, and households. A robust NCRCRD enables the achievement of each system's goals by creating resilient communities and economies, developing leadership and civic engagement, and promoting community health and wellness.Our systems approach will seek to engage research and Extension at all of the land-grant institutions across the NCR. This will require direct, intentional engagement by the NCRCRD with these institutions through research and Extension networks. Purdue University will dedicate financial resources, social capital investments (through thematic working team development) and logistical support to actively engage in the development of integrated systems-thinking networks to enhance collaboration and coordination.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
100%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
6086050301050%
8036099301025%
8056099301025%
Knowledge Area
805 - Community Institutions, Health, and Social Services; 803 - Sociological and Technological Change Affecting Individuals, Families, and Communities; 608 - Community Resource Planning and Development;

Subject Of Investigation
6099 - People and communities, general/other; 6050 - Communities, areas, and regions;

Field Of Science
3010 - Economics;
Goals / Objectives
We propose a systems approach to build thriving rural communities through cutting-edge research and Extension programs and innovative partnerships. The North Central Region (NCR) depends on three interconnected systems: communities, businesses, and households. A robust North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) enables the achievement of each system's goals by creating resilient communities and economies, developing leadership and civic engagement, and promoting community health and wellness.Our systems approach will seek to engage research and Extension at all of the land-grant institutions across the NCR. This will require direct, intentional engagement by the NCRCRD with these institutions through research and Extension networks.Objectives: 1. A region-wide needs assessment2. A North Central regional panel dataset3. Multistate research and extension project teams4. Continuation of NCRCRD activities which include: webinars, small grants program, work with NCR CD program leaders
Project Methods
Region-wide Needs AssessmentNCRCRD will conduct a series of virtual town hall meetings with faculty, educators, students and administrators from the region focused on the three themes and three target audiences. The town hall meetings would happen yearly in order to keep stakeholders engaged with the Center and identify potential center activities. The town hall meetings will also enable the Center staff to ask for feedback on themes, audiences, activities, and impacts.NCR Panel DataA North Central regional panel dataset will be developed as a venue and incentive for interdisciplinary collaboration across states and across research and Extension. The Center would maintain the baseline data and collect it across time. The Center along with the Advisory Board would develop a policy for its use and distribution. The Center would collect data focused on regional household, business, and community wellbeing focused on the three themes, across time and space. Having an available dataset would decrease the barriers for institutions to study regional changes and conduct comparative research. Regional data would increase regional collaboration for both research and Extension. The Center would facilitate regional collaboration for: survey development, data collection methods, data analysis that leads to publications and educational curriculua. The regional dataset would also enhance collaboration between high- and low-resource institutions across the region. Institutions could choose to oversample their states and researchers could provide funds to include focused topics to the survey.Sabbatical Faculty FellowshipsThe Center would encourage faculty from the NCR to spend a portion of their sabbatical leave working on Center activities or proposed activities. The Center's Sabbatical Faculty Fellows will be vital contributors to the NCR Panel Data by developing survey topics, research publications, and Extension curriculua. The Center would provide appropriate funding on a competitive basis to selected faculty. This would increase interregional collaboration and enhance the Center's stature with faculty across the region.?Multistate Research and Extension Project TeamsSeed funding will be provided for multistate projects focused on the three thematic areas that integrate research and Extension. Seed funding (ranging from $10,000 to $50,000) could be used for team development and meetings, preliminary data collection, or other activities that facilitated multi-state regional and sustainable collaboration. These projects would be 3 years in duration with high potential for scholarly work and external funding. These teams would function similarly to existing successful regional multistate projects. The small grants program would target particular populations, rapid-response issues, or individual state solutions that could be replicated by others in the region. These will be one or two-year grants (ranging from $5,000 to $25,000) that would result in more urgent outcomes and outputs.PROPOSED CONTINUATION OF NCRCRD ACTIVITIESOver the last decade, through the efforts of the NCRCRD, the NCR has been able to successfully pursue large grants (i.e. Community Assessment and Education to Promote Behavioral Health Planning and Evaluation (CAPE)), increase the visibility of research and Extension from the NCR through webinars and online speed dating exchanges and promoting the impact of Extension through the collection and dissemination of regionwide impact indicators. As part of the Continuity Plan, Purdue University proposes to support the following:Hosting webinars to connect Extension professionals and researchers with innovative Extension programming and research that has a high potential for adoption and/or dissemination.Focusing the resources from the small grants program on creating working groups that will foster collaboration among institutions across the new themes, building a process of supporting cross-institutional teams/projects that seek to deliver on impacts that address environmental, social and economic dimensions.Expanding current work with North Central Program leaders to collect, highlight and disseminate the collective impact of each Program Area, including cross-programmatic efforts, to NIFA and other stakeholders.Continue to host and provide logistical support for Community Development Program Leaders for their monthly meetings and stakeholder visits.

Progress 09/15/20 to 09/14/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences are land grant institution researchers and extension professionals, rural communities, rural deveopment practitioners, and local, state, and federal policy makers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? FALCON 2021 Annual Conference (virtual), October 21-22, 2021. 46th Small Business Institute (SBI) Annual Academic Conference 2022, February 24-26, 2022. Charleston, SC. National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) Annual Conference 2022, June 5-8, 2022. Indianapolis, IN. 2022 Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Annual Meeting, July 31 - August 2, 2022. Anaheim, CA. SBA Relief Programs - COVID EIDLUpdate Webinar. September 23, 2021. Networks and systems that support success for educators, students, and researchers at Native American, Historically Black, and Hispanic-Serving Higher Education Institutions. MSU. November 18, 2021. SBA Celebrates National Native American Heritage Month. November 24, 2021. Linking Small Business Administration Resources to Indiana Owners. Purdue University. December 1, 2021. Monthly Tribal Meeting - NIFA. "Learning by Doing: 4H on the Navajo Nation". February 1, 2022. NIFA Monthly Tribal Meeting. "TheHealing Power of Horses: Integrating Trauma-Focused Strategies into NHS College's Equine Studies Program". March 1, 2022. NABE Small Business/Entrepreneurship Roundtable webinar, "The State of Minority-Owned Small Businesses," March 8, 2022. SBA Celebrates Women's History Month. March 31, 2022. Purdue AgEcon Snyder Lecture with speaker John List. April 22, 2022. NIFA Monthly Tribal Meeting: "Feedback related to Tribal Ecological Knowledge Programming", "Tribal Workforce Development and Food Security Aquaculture Program". May 3, 2022. Indiana University Center for Rural Development: Research and Creative Activity with Rural Communities Colloquium in French Lick, Indiana. May 11, 2022. USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) - Data Training Webinar: Food Access Research Atlas & Food Environment Atlas. May 24, 2022. CSG Program Aspen Institute - Thrive Rural Open Field Session: Rural Environmental Justice. June 10, 2022. The Council on Food, Agricultural and Resource Economics (C-FARE): GoToWebinar - Building the Capacity to Invest in Rural Prosperity Part II. June 16, 2022. Building a Better America: A Small Business Resource Community - Resources For Native-Owned Business. July 20, 2022. National Academy of Sciences: Building (and Sustaining) a Culture of Collaboration Across the Land-Grant System. July 28, 2022. AIANTA Partners with USDA Rural Development on new Webinar Series - Developing Tribal Tourism Enterprises Based on Native Values. August 9, 2022. The Role of Capacity for Collaboration in the Land-Grant System. August 11, 2022. Aspen CSG: Thrive Rural Open Field #6: Affordable Capital and Credit Access. August 12, 2022. A Broader Vision of Quality of Life as Economic Development Policy (University of Wisconsin-Madison). August 23, 2022. Monthly NCRCRD webinars Trainings and Courses IDI - Intercultural Development Inventory survey in September 2021. Debrief with Amanda Thompson on September 24, 2021. Training. Awareness hazard communication training module with Purdue University. October 4, 2021 Stata Online Training. Using Stata Effectively: Data Management, Analysis, and Graphics Fundamentals. January 25-28, 2022. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated resutls via our website which had 142,041 visits and a quarterly newsletter and blog. Also through webinars that are recorded and posted as YouTube videos on the Center's YouTube channel with 731 views and watch time of 79 hours. We have also presented results at professional conferences such as NACDEP, AAEA, and SBI. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? NCR-STAT:We finished data collection and data cleaning. We have several MS students working with us to do data visualizations by topics for each state to make the data accessible and help us market the dataset to our colleagues in the NCR. They will also help us find any "glitches" in the data prior to making it public. We expect to have it publicly available in November 2022. We are planning a webinar to officially launching the dataset in December 2022. National Listening Sessions: We conducted a national survey led by the Northeast Regional Rural Development Center. In the wake of multiple chronic challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, rural communities and small towns across the United States are beginning to build back from the associated impacts on their economies, workforces, and communities. These recovery efforts pose critical questions of where and how to invest. To identify where stakeholders engaged in rural development see the greatest need, and the greatest opportunity, the NCRCRD and the three other Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC) embarked on a process to collect feedback through a year-long initiative which began in the fall of 2021. The RRDCs used a two-step process to collect the feedback. The first step surveyed key rural development implementers and other stakeholders to provide baseline feedback. In the second step, the RRDCs hosted a series of facilitated listening sessions with invited stakeholders aimed at diving deeper into survey findings and identifying long-range strategies on key priorities. The Listening Sessions reports were finalized and will be sent for external review soon. Information about the NCR listening sessions and reports can be found on the NCRCRD website. Our priority areas for the small grants and fellows program for 2022 and 2023 are based on these listening session priorities. Increasing collaborative efforrts across the region: 2021 NCR Community Development Annual Report: was finalized in May 2022 and we have revised that section of the website to better highlight those outcomes. Converence Development: We supported the development of two conferences in the North Central Region: Cambio de Colores hosted by the University of Missouri and the National Association for Community Development Extension Professionals. We presented the results of the Listening sessions at NACDEP and AAEA. During AAEA, NCRCRD director continued to have fruitful discussions with the Director of the NC Extension Risk Management Education Center to try to find ways for the Centers to collaborate in the NCR. The NCRCRD attended at the Association of Extension Administrators (AEA) meetings where administrators from 1890s gathered. The associate director's attendance was fruitful and we met with the Presidents of Lincoln University and the dean of Central State. We are hoping this sparks increased collaborations with our 1890s partners. NCRCRD also published monthly data driven stories found on our website. NCRCRD hosted ten (10) webinars from September 1 through August 31, 2022 with a total of 864 registrants. Total views for the YouTube videos are 731. Webinar information may be found on our website. Titles are as follows: Using Q Methodology to Measure Rural Entrepreneurial Perceptions & An Overview of Homegrown (9/16/21) Insights for Rural Healthcare Resilience: A Quantitative Survey Analysis (10/28/21) Latino Farmers in the Midwest: Practices and Challenges (11/10/21) All of US Research Program: The Future of Health Starts With YOU (12/9/21) The Impacts of Flooding on Business Activity and Employment: A Spatial Perspective on Small Business (1/20/22) Retaining Rural Businesses through Conversions to Employee Cooperatives (2/22/22) How Can Communities Address the Great Resignations? & Work Ready Life Skills Curriculum Preps Applicants for Job Openings Around the Country (3/10/22) Remaining Land-Grant Fierce While Accepting the Land-Grab Truth of Our Foundation (4/20/22) Moving Rural Communities FORWARD: Future Opportunities for Rural Workforce and Rural Development through Extension (5/24/22) How We Work Together: Supporting Local/Regional Food Systems through Collaboration (8/30/22) NCRCRD partnered with APLU on a funded project by the Ascendium Foundation foccused on workforce development in rural communities titled Facilitating Career Pathways for Rural Students: Cooperative Extension as a Community Connector. The grant ended in September 2022. The North Central Regional Rural Development Center lead the Model design team from across the country in building a Workforce Engagement Model. The model design team identified the processes, materials, and data required to support Extension professionals in forming and supporting a local community team to understand and address the workforce needs of the community. Because the model will be developed by a team of Cooperative Extension leaders, it will draw upon Cooperative Extension's traditional strengths in youth development, community collaboration, and community education. This project will show how to leverage those unique Cooperative Extension assets and apply them to the specific workforce needs of rural communities and regions. The curriculum that was developed is titled FORWARD and piloted in three rural communities located in Indiana, Arkansas, and Oregon. We also secured $36,886 in funding to focus on rural small businesses, banking relationships, and access to SBA Paycheck Protection Program funding. This project resulted in an extension publication for rural small businesses found our our website. Community Development Extension Library: The Community Development Extension Library serves as a national repository of programs, curricula, tools, and fact sheets shared and used among Extension professionals who are part of Community Development Extension programs from across the United States. The CD Extension Library is a collaboration between the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) and the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP). The Library is a resource for sharing programs and best practices throughout the Cooperative Extension System and a forum through which peers can exchange information on practices, program delivery, and impact.

Publications

  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bednarikova, Z. and E. Cassanmagnago. 2022. Building Bank Relationships - A Small Business Banking Guide. Technical Report EC-818-W. Purdue Extension. https://mdc.itap.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Number=EC-818-W
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: NCRCRD Quarterly Newsletter found at https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/news/newsletter/
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Stories behind the numbers found at https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/category/story-behind-the-numbers/
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Blogs found at https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/news/recent-news/
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bednarikova, Z. and M.I. Marshall. 2022. Rural Small Business Resilience: The Role of Personal Relationships with Community Banks. 46th Small Business Institute (SBI) Annual Academic Conference 2022, February 24-26, 2022. Charleston, SC.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Bednarikova, Z. Rural Small Business Banking Relationships. National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) Annual Conference 2022, June 5-8, 2022. Indianapolis, IN.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Investing in Rural Recovery Complete Report: https://www.usu.edu/rrdc/files/assessment-of-stakeholder-priorities-for-rural-development-oct2021.pdf
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Listening Session Report for the North Central Region: https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Summary_North-Central-Region_Final.pdf
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Listening Session Report for National Workforce Development Topic: https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Summary_Workforce-Development_Final.pdf


Progress 09/15/20 to 09/14/21

Outputs
Target Audience:The target audiences are rural communities,policy makers, and LGU researchers and Extension professionals. Changes/Problems:The COVID-19 pandemic slowed down the transition process for Center activities. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?The NCRCRD's staff have participated in several conferences that have enhanced our ability to work with rural and tribal communities. These conferences include: FALCON (First Americans Land Grant Consortium) in October 2020 NACDEP (National Association of Community Development Professionals) in May 2021 ESRI for data visualization in May 2021 How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have disseminated resutls via our website and a quarterly newsletter and blog. Also through webinars that are recorded and posted as YouTube videos on the Center's YouTube channel. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?During the next reporting period we intend to conduct our first panel data survey across the NCR. A North Central regional panel dataset will serve as a venue and incentive for interdisciplinary collaboration across states, research, and Extension. The Center would maintain the baseline data focused on regional households, businesses, and community wellbeing and collect it across time. In addition, the Center, along with the Advisory Board, would develop a policy for its use and distribution. Work will continue onFacilitating Career Pathways for Rural Students: Cooperative Extension as a Community Connector project and rural small business and banking projects. The advisory committee will meet to help determine regional needs.We plan to establish working groups focused on workforce development, food security and wellness,community resilience, and climate resilience plans for rural communities. We also plan to establish and publish an request for applications for small targeted grants. We will continue to do webinars and publish the quarterly newsletter. The NCRCRD along with the other RRDCs will be conducting a series of listening sessions focused on workforce and economic development. The NCRCRD will focus on workforce development nationally and then lead a regional listening sessions to determine regional needs. We will also continue lead work on a workforce development curriculum. We will begin work on a multi-stateproject (NC1100)focused on rural small businesses, access to health care and recovery oriented systems of care.This project examines innovative and evidence-based approaches for enhancing workforce development and organizational wellbeing for small rural business owners, with an aim of promoting community prosperity and wellbeing.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The Center partnered with APLU to develop a proprosal to the Ascendium Foundation foccused on workforce development in rural communities titledFacilitating Career Pathways for Rural Students: Cooperative Extension as a Community Connector. The grantwas awarded for $209,691in December 2020 and will continue through July 2022.The North Central Regional Rural Development Center will lead the Model design team from across the countryin building a Workforce Engagement Model. The model design team will identify the processes, materials, and data required to support Extension professionals in forming and supporting a local community team to understand and address the workforce needs of the community. Because the model will be developed by a team of Cooperative Extension leaders, it will draw upon Cooperative Extension's traditional strengths in youth development, community collaboration, and community education. This project will show how to leverage those unique Cooperative Extension assets and apply them to the specific workforce needs of rural communities and regions. We have also secured $36,886 in funding to focus on rural small businesses, banking relationships, and access to SBA Paycheck Protection Programfunding. The NCRCRD has continued to work with NCR CD program leaders. We have provided support for monthly meeting and helped develop and coordinate the annual report of CD indicators. We have also continued to have monthly webinars that lift up work being done across the NCR. We faciliated four webinars during this grant period; of which the most popular focused on increasing partnerships between 1862 and 1994 land grant universitites.We are engaging with Extension program leaders from all four program areas at thier monthly meeting. We established an Advisory Committee of research and Extension professionals across the region, which also included program leaders from the four program areas. We have begun facilitating working group discusions that should develop into multi-state working group proposals to the Center. Community Development Extension Library:The Community Development Extension Library serves as a national repository of programs, curricula, tools, and fact sheets shared and used among Extension professionals who are part of Community Development Extension programs from across the United States. The CD Extension Library is a collaboration between the North Central Regional Center for Rural Development (NCRCRD) and the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP). The Library is a resource for sharing programs and best practices throughout the Cooperative Extension System and a forum through which peers can exchange information on practices, program delivery, and impact.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Katare, B., M.I. Marshall, and C.B. Valdivia. 2021. Bend or Break? Small Business Strategies and the CARES Act during the COVID-19 Shock. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102332
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: NCRCRD website: ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: NCRCRD Quarterly Newsletter found at https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/newsletter-archive/
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: NCRCRD Blog found at https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/category/blog/
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Bednarikova Z., I. Kumar I., B. Beaulieu, R. Gallardo. 2021. The role of rural areas in regional clusters: the case of Great Lakes Chicago EDA Region. Research and Policy Insights: https://pcrd.purdue.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/RPI-103-Clusters.pdf
  • Type: Websites Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Community Development Extension Library found at https://ncrcrd.ag.purdue.edu/community-development/cd-extension-library/